A film noir similar in theme and almost as enjoyable
as The
Big Sleep,
as private investigator Philip Marlowe (George
Montgomery) leaves his
Hollywood
office for a case in Pasadena from a rich old widow
who lives in a dark
old house. It's just smart enough of a film noir to be
considered a
classic.

The Brasher Doubloon is a rare gold coin that is
worth
$10,000. It
has been stolen from the eccentric Mrs. Murdock's
(Florence Bates)
safe,
and only two others have the key--her son Leslie
(Janis) and her
trusted
secretary for the past five years, the attractive
blonde, Miss Merle
Davis
(Guild). Mrs. Murdock wants Marlowe to just recover
the coin without
any
questions, and no police involved. Mrs. Murdock is a
chilling
personality.
Mrs. Murdock's son is a loud-mouth spoiled kid, who
wants Marlowe
removed
from the case. But Marlowe is attracted to Merle and
takes the case to
pursue her, despite his dislike for the family. When
Marlowe makes
advances
on Merle, she tells him she has a phobia about being
touched but is
willing
to have Marlowe give her lessons on how to recover.
Merle tells Marlowe
it is very important for her that he take the case and
keep it
confidential.

Marlowe is no fool, so he figures the family is
keeping
some dark
secrets. He soon learns that this case will include
not only robbery,
but
blackmail and murder. Marlowe's visited in his office
by Eddie Prue,
who
represents the gangster owner of the Lucky Club, Vince
Blaire. He
offers
Marlowe double his usual fee if he gets off the
Murdock case. When
Marlowe
refuses, Eddie takes him at gunpoint to see Vince. But
Marlowe is good
at getting out of situations with someone pointing a
gun at him, as we
see throughout numerous examples of him disarming such
rivals.

Marlowe's investigation leads to an assayer/fence,
Elisah
Morningstar,
who can only tell him an unnamed client has the coin
and is willing to
sell it. Marlowe overhears the phone conversation
Elisah has with the
client,
George Anson. When Marlowe tracks Anson down, he finds
him dead in his
apartment. Marlowe then finds the locker ticket where
the gold coin is,
and uses the surly apartment manager to take him
to Anson'
apartment
as an alibi that he wasn't there before. When the
police arrive, the
investigating
detective, Sergeant Spangler, is suspicious of Marlowe
and makes him
empty
his pockets. When free, Marlowe obtains the hidden
gold coin and then
goes
to see the assayer. But he finds him dead with Merle's
gun next to him.
Marlowe withholds the gun from the police. When
Marlowe shows up at
Murdock's
mansion, he's told that he's off the case because the
coin has been
returned.
Marlowe tells them he has the coin and won't return it
until the
murders
are solved and the police are informed.

In Marlowe's office a frightened man called Vannier
(Kortner) pulls
a gun on him, saying he must have the coin. Marlowe
takes the gun away
and finds out that he's a freelance movie cameraman
and that he's
blackmailing
Mrs. Murdock for $500 every month because of what he
has on film. It
turns
out he was filming the Rose Bowl Parade 5 years ago,
that was when Mr.
Murdock died falling out of the window.

Warning: spoiler to follow in
next
paragraph.

The case becomes even more bizarre, as Marlowe
discovers
Merle is
mentally disturbed. Mrs. Murdock is purposely driving
her insane and
now
completely controls her. Leslie, in the meantime, is
involved with
Vince
due to his gambling debts. Mrs. Murdock and Leslie
want the coin in
order
to trade it to the avid coin collector Vannier for his
blackmail film.
They figure they can all live well blackmailing his
mother, while Mrs.
Murdock has convinced Merle that she is guilty of
throwing her husband
out the window because he made sexual advances to her
and then blacked
out. Mrs. Murdock convinces Merle that is what the
blackmailer has on
film.

This brooding Gothic melodrama is brought to life by
John
Brahm's
expressionistic ambiance ably photographed by
cinematographer Lloyd
Ahern
and by the sharp hard-boiled Raymond Chandler story
the film is adapted
from, "The High Window." The film is not as complex as
the novel, but
it
makes good use of its snappy dialogue and has vividly
grotesque
characterizations
to go along with the dark mood it sets. Fritz Kortner
stands out in his
villainous role, which he plays like Peter Lorre
would; while Florence
Bates is charmingly acerbic in her creepy role as a
bitter old hag.